Wheat import required to ensure better availability and control prices

21-Jun-2024 05:04 PM

New Delhi. The government procurement process of wheat will end in the next two weeks, while in reality it has already stopped.

Wheat is no longer reaching government marketing centers because most of the farmers have already sold their goods and are now busy sowing Kharif crops. In government figures,

wheat procurement is being described as sufficient in terms of demand and requirement and it is also being said that traders and millers have a good stock of it. The Agriculture Ministry has estimated wheat production to jump to an all-time high of 1129 lakh tonnes,

but the industry trade sector believes that the actual production has not exceeded 1050 lakh tonnes. Generally, consumption increases when the temperature decreases.

On this basis, the demand for wheat may increase rapidly during the coming months and especially after Raksha Bandhan when the festive season will begin.

Demand may remain strong until wheat sowing ends in December-January. If the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) does not start on time this year like last year,

then flour millers/processors will have to buy wheat from traders, stockists and big farmers. If there is a huge demand, the prices of wheat may naturally change (increase).

The important fact is that this time the stock of wheat in the central pool has come down to the lowest level in the last decade, while this time its limited stock is also being reported in the open market.

This is likely to worsen the equation of demand and supply. The government is repeatedly claiming that it has sufficient stock of wheat available,

but the industry-trade sector does not agree with this. It may be that this stock is sufficient in the normal sense, but if the demand and need increases in an emergency, then a problem may arise.

It is necessary to import wheat from abroad to ensure better supply and availability in the domestic sector and to curb the rise in prices. It seems almost certain that the government will not lift the ban on wheat export.